“Why is there so much blood?”
Aunt Zhang was startled by the scene in front of her.
“Who’s injured?”
Hearing her, Jiang Yunling grew anxious.
She wasn’t hurt—so it could only be Lin Qiqi.
“Let Mom take a look—where are you hurt?” She struggled to break free from Lin Qiqi’s embrace.
But Lin Qiqi clung to her, sobbing uncontrollably, unwilling to let go.
She kept repeating, “Mom, don’t leave.”
Aunt Zhang hurried over to check for the wound.
When she saw the shattered glass bottle on the ground, her pupils shrank sharply.
“Old Zhang! Go get help! Someone drank pesticide!”
With only two women left in the Lin household, Uncle Zhang hadn’t entered the house, just watching from his doorway.
Hearing this, he rushed over in his slippers.
“What happened?”
“No one drank anything,” Jiang Yunling said, suddenly calm.
Since her injury, Lin Qiqi seemed to have matured overnight—so sensible it felt unfamiliar.
She no longer threw tantrums, nor cried as much.
She handled everything at home and took good care of her.
Even emptying the chamber pot daily, she never complained.
But as a mother, Jiang Yunling felt she had nothing left to give her daughter.
Only burdens—nothing but burdens.
At one point, she even felt as though her daughter was gone.
But now, the Lin Qiqi crying in her arms made her feel like her daughter had returned.
“It’s okay, it’s okay. Mom’s not leaving,” Jiang Yunling said, wrapping her arms around her daughter’s back and gently stroking her.
Just like when she was little.
Lin Qiqi felt the last trace of the original host’s lingering obsession finally dissipate.
The pain in the rest of her body gradually faded, making the pain in her calf more pronounced.
Her arms, which had been tightly wrapped around Jiang Yunling, had gone stiff. She slowly loosened her grip, preparing to check the wound herself.
Then she heard Aunt Zhang gasp, “Oh heavens, that’s such a long cut.”
“Old Zhang, go change your clothes and take Qiqi to the hospital.”
A shard of glass had sliced Lin Qiqi’s calf, leaving a wound nearly a palm’s length long.
It was deep, and blood was still pouring out, soaking her pant leg red.
Aunt Zhang firmly helped her up and guided her outside.
“Don’t be stubborn. Go with your uncle to the hospital first. I’ll look after your mother here.”
Uncle Zhang had already pushed his bicycle outside.
Together, they lifted Lin Qiqi onto the back seat.
“Old Zhang, it’s from a pesticide bottle. Don’t go to a small clinic—take her to a bigger hospital. Let the doctor check properly so there won’t be lasting issues.”
The bicycle quickly disappeared down the alley.
Uncle Zhang pedaled so fast his legs blurred.
Exhausted from the emotional turmoil, Lin Qiqi sat blankly on the back seat.
She thought—perhaps the original host brought her here early just to save Jiang Yunling.
And thankfully, she had.
In truth, Lin Qiqi didn’t have much experience with mothers—she had been raised by her grandparents.
She only remembered that when she was very young, she would cling to a woman’s leg, crying, “Mom, don’t go.”
But she had never been able to keep her.
Her mother’s face had long faded into a blur in her memory.
But today, Jiang Yunling’s embrace and comfort made her realize, for the first time, what a mother felt like.
In that sense, she envied the original host.
She envied her for having such a loving mother.
“Don’t worry,” she murmured softly, as if to herself. “I’ll treat her like my own mother and take good care of her.”
“This time, I kept her.”
By the time they reached the hospital, regular hours were over. Only the emergency room was still open, with few patients.
The doctor on duty was a young man. When he heard the wound was caused by a pesticide bottle, he immediately frowned.
He disinfected the wound, stitched it, and, to be safe, prescribed IV fluids.
The IV room had only one narrow bed; the rest were chairs.
When Lin Qiqi was helped inside, someone was already lying on the bed.
She couldn’t see his face, only that he was tall—longer than the bed, with his feet hanging off the edge.
She sat by the window, trying to distract herself by planning the future.
When she got home, she would use tonight’s incident to persuade Jiang Yunling again to divorce Lin Zhengxian.
Once they completely cut ties with the Lin family, she would pursue two paths at once.
On one hand, try to recover Jiang Yunling’s compensation money from Lin Zhengxian.
On the other, explore whether taking a loan was feasible.
No matter what, she had to set up a stall business first.
If she could earn money, she wanted to take Jiang Yunling to a major hospital in the capital to see if better rehabilitation options existed.
“Cough, cough, cough.”
The patient on the bed suddenly started coughing.
His voice was hoarse as he muttered, “Water… is there any water?”
That voice sounded familiar.
Seeing that he couldn’t move, Lin Qiqi rang the bell on her IV stand.
The doctor quickly returned. “What is it?”
“He wants some water,” Lin Qiqi said, pointing at the man.
Instead of pouring water, the doctor patted the man a few times.
“If you’re awake, sit up.”
From his tone, they seemed to know each other.
“You can’t drink water anymore. Too much stomach acid—it’ll only make you feel worse.”
“I’ve got some noodle soup from the cafeteria this afternoon. I’ll heat it up—you need to eat something.”
“Chocolate and milk candy won’t do. You need proper meals, understand?”
The man on the bed sat up weakly. “Don’t want to eat… feel like throwing up.”
Lin Qiqi widened her eyes.
It was Jian Yushu.
“Yushu, your anorexia is getting worse,” the doctor said worriedly. “If this continues, it’ll become life-threatening.”
“I suggest you stop working immediately and focus on treatment.”
“You can’t live on snacks forever.”
They spoke as if no one else was there, but Lin Qiqi felt awkward listening to someone else’s private matters.
“Ahem,” she coughed lightly to remind them she was still there.
They stopped the conversation.
“You still have two more bottles of IV fluid. You’ll need to stay overnight,” the doctor said as he reinserted Jian Yushu’s needle. “What do you want to eat? I’ll have Ruifeng bring food in the morning.”
“No need. I really can’t eat,” Jian Yushu tried to refuse.
“You have to eat even if you can’t. If you feel like vomiting, endure it and eat.”
“If you still can’t eat, I’ll put in a feeding tube.”
The doctor rolled his eyes at him, then turned to Lin Qiqi.
“You can leave after your IV is done. Don’t let the wound touch water. You can change the dressing at a clinic, and come back in seven days to remove the stitches.”
With that, he left with a displeased expression.
Only Jian Yushu and Lin Qiqi remained in the room.
They sat in silence, occasionally glancing at each other.
Both seemed to be searching for a chance to speak.
But they spoke at the same time—
“What’s wrong with you?”